Post binder



March 23, 194-3. E SCHADE 2,314,427

\ POST BINDER Filed .April 4, 194-2 Alt/j I Z0 ATTOR EYS Patented Mar. 23, 1943 UNITED STATES Frank Stanley Soh'ad'e, Holyoke, Mesa, assignorto National Blank Book Company, Holyoke, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 4, 1942, seriai no. 437.612

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in loose leaf binders known as post binders. My ob ject is to improve the construction of this type of binder. Pertinent prior art structure is indicated in the Schade Patent No. 2,211,517 of 194 0.

The general idea of my new construction is to lower the cost without lowering the efiiciency, but in some respects improving it, as compared to prior art structure. According to my disclosure, the cost is lowered, for example by making my structure with a substantial proportion of wooden rather than metal parts. The elfic'iency of the new binder depends on the arrangement of the parts according to the plan which I will disclose.

In the drawing- Fi 1 shows a side elevation of the back and top units of the binder, with parts of the cover portions cut away;

Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the top unit of Fig. 1 taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the top unit of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detail view of parts which appear in small scale in Fig. 2 and are indicated in the top view of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side view showing a slightly modified construction. It is similar to that of Fig. l ex= cept the assembly gives a different hinge construction in the combination; I

Fig. 6 is a view on line 6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a view of detail.

In malnng the structure illustrated, I had in mind todays scarcity of metal. It being both ex pensive and hard to get, I aimed at a new construction suitable for a substantial change from metal to wood material. The change of material might be also from metal to plastic, for example. In either case the new form and arrangement would give advantages. This will appear when the following detailed disclosure is fully considered.

The construction of Fig. 1 includes a top cover portion 2. It has a hinged binding strip 3. The flexible cloth hinge 4 itself is conveniently inftegral with the cloth covering material of stiif ened portions 2 and 3. Such a top cover unit'can be made on automatic machinery. It is a low cost and convenient part. A similar part is shown in the bottom unit. References 2', 3, and 4' correspond to described portions 2, 3, and 4.

On the outside of strips 3 and 3" I provide bars 5 and 5' of wood, plastic, or other non-metallic material. Wood is preferred. Bar 5 has two spaced recesses 6 on the top side (see Figs. 2 and 3). They are for pocketing and holding an auto in'atic mechanism used to fasten the removable most conv cove nnit tothe binder posts 1, which posts are suitably attached to the bar 5' and strip 315. 'Th automatic mechanism a is shown in Fig. 4. The mechanism per se'is similar to that shown in Said'prior Patent No. 2,211,517, being there shown in Fig. 6. So it will be described herein briefly. The finger piece 9 is pressed upwardly by a v- -shap'ed spring plate :ifhese pieces 9 and 'Qfaie of about equa1 width. The lower or;- tion of plate 9' rests on a saddle guard 9"; with an outer end projection resting in a fitting recess in material of piece 5,"s'ee The upper and vertical part 'ofthe guard 9" has a-projection 50 at each corner. which projections engage notches in the sides of piece 9. The latter istemsiitstam many as shown in Fig. 4. g The part to the left r "prongs 50 notes downwardly. It is provided with a hole to pass a binder post when in one position, but cramp the post from passing in the position of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows them'orn'ial position of the parts, as does Fig. -2. The operation is to press finger A piece :9 downwardly at the right. This raises the left cpwarqiajrhe post hole moves toward the horizontal. This releases the post from the bi ding position f Fig. 2. Exce t forfthefingr pres-screen piece '9, the Spring plate '9" home the mechanism iiiramping' relation to the p'o'st; The pivot line of piece 9 is ail-top of pi ce eqbetween prengs 50', one on each top earner.- By its'el-f;-t emcee-11am is are, as iamcated in the-aforesaicsenade patent.

As indicated in-Figs. 2 and 4, I provide "meta staples 8; They serve to fasten bar s tostr'ip 3. They also serve to re in" the automatic *m-echa meme 5m recess 6. T ere are shown two posts 7, two recesses 6,- I"-o mechanisms d; and two staples 8}. "These are similar in theiriuiiction so that the description of one will be enough.

Fig"; 3 indicates how the staple B enemies latch plate '9.-

ill; Fig. 2,- the staple prongs pass through the wooden bar 5} through are binder strip -3,-and-ar bent fever and tightly against the finder Side or strip 3 The latter may be made too many lines i the drawing. The staple'and its arra'r iger'ner-it thus not any hold bar f5 and strip "3 together; but effectively retain latc'h plate 9 and its associated fildh res-min place "it operate in the recess of the at. They all make a tr'rafig'l'hell't fOi dfig ihaiputtihg' tfi gthfand later for fak irig apart for replace-- andrepair. The' staple'also' acts as armcrum stop for pivotal movement of latch plate 9. In this respect it cooperates with the latch plate 9 in the functioning of the latter. It is located to straddle plate 9 in the line of its notches I2. It will be seen that the simple staple serves many purposes.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 a different hinge construction is indicated for the combination. In this embodiment the wooden bars l and l l, formed'as are bars and 5', serve as binding strips. Each bar is fastened to its ad jacent cover portion by hinges l 4.

The hinges, as shown, provide a stop for the inward swinging of the strips about the covers, although any suitable type of hingemay be employed for the purpose.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the hinge for the top cover in plan view to indicate the additional functions of these upper hinges. It will be understood that mechanisms a are located in recesses as described in the first embodiment. Here the staples 8' retain themechanisms a by. passing through the bar It] and being bent against plate l5 of the hinge. Thus, the plate serves as a firm piece by which the staple may clinch the latch mechanism securely in the assembly. In addition, it will be noted that the plate l5 acts as a reenforcing piece for the post hole l6. Hence, the hinge increases the life of the binder by lessening the possibility of wear and tear in .this construction.

It will also be noted that the hinges, being of thinner construction than the cardboard reenforced strips shown in Fig. 1, present a more compact binder.

Now that the two modifications have been disclosed I will point out more of the detail and advantages.

Referring to the form of Fig. 1, the bottom bar 5 is provided with a special bottom post section. It is shown as IT in Fig. 7 where it appears much like an eyelet. The flange I8 is held on a shoulder by turned-over edge l9. The cover reenforced margin 3 is held by post section 20 screwing into I1 and with flange 2| to hold the cover section. This cloth hinge form of post binder is thus made with the bottom cover fastened to the bottom bar 5 by a special form of bottom post. It will be recalled, as described above, that the staple 8, among its other functions, fastened the top cover to the top bar 5,.

The construction gives a useful result.

Compared to prior constructions as made with metal bars or tubes for the posts and cloth hinges: I make the new construction at lower cost, involving less hand labor. Automatic machines are available to make cover elements having parts like 2, 4, and 3 of Fig. 1. But in making the old post binders with metal tubes instead of bars 5 and 5', it has been customary to wrap the cloth of the cover hinges around the stiff metal tubes. Thus, the part 3 would not beused. That is to say, the flattened metal tube has before seemed to be of particular advantage in serving as the stiffening portion and rendering such an element as my part 3 unnecessary. But in observing the subject as I have, it was no advantage. It required expensive hand operation in finishing the stifiening binding margin sections of the covers. With my reconstruction it should be noticed that my cover sections are of a character such as can be made complete by automatic machines. Then the posts, the wooden bars, and mechanism carried by the bars are all quickly and inexpensively assembled. The bottom post sections of Fig. 7 and the staples like 8 of Fig. 3 hold the things together in functional relationship. It will be seen particularly from Fig. 1 how well adapted the construction is for the renewal of either or both covers. The mechanism carried by bars 5 and 5' will customarily outlast a pair of covers 2 and 2'. By substituting a pair of new for old covers the book may be kept in fine condition as long as the mechanism lasts. The covers are relatively inexpensive.

The advantages over the prior constructions are exceedingly useful from the manufacturers viewpoint. The nice appearance of the binder is retained. From the users standpoint nothing is lost while the binder may now be lighter in weight. The user will find too that he can by easy repair or replacement operations keep his structure in perfect mechanical condition and with little expense in renewing covers keep an original good book appearance.

The observations in respect to the reasons for the new binder and comparisons with the older forms will'show nicely coordinated results in many particulars. The new book structure involves much more than the substitution of other materials for metal, although that substitution is desirable, as mentioned in the beginning.

I claim:

1. A post binder having in combination a top cover unit provided with a solid bar of nonmetallic material, wood for example, two recesses extending downwardly from the top face of said bar, one located adjacent each end of the bar, at each recess a staple with prongs passing through the bar adjacent the sides of the recess and with its prong-connecting portion lying across the recess from side to side at about the top level of the bar to provide a fulcrum line of operation of latching mechanism, an automatic spring-pressed post latching mechanism contained in the recess with a latch finger-operating piece presented at about the top of the recess with a downwardly slanting extension passing under said prong-connecting portion to provide a post-gripping piece at the opposite side of the portion, the transverse line of said extension as it passes under said prong-connecting portion forming a fulcrum line for pivotal movement of said finger-operating piece, said mechanism having spring means to maintain pressure of said parts on said fulcrum line, one of such latching mechanisms being assembled in each recess, post holes provided in the said bar and in the post gripping pieces of said mechanisms.

2. The structure of the claim 1 in combination with a back unit having a binding margin including a solid bar of non-metallic material, similar to the top unit, carrying the binding posts adapted to pass through the bar and latching mechanisms of the top unit.

3. A post binder having in combination a top cover unit provided with a solid bar of non-metallic material, wood for example, two recesses extending downwardly from the top face of said bar, one located adjacent each end of the bar, at each recess a cross piece of relatively very small cross-section spanning the recess from side to side at about the top level of the bar and firmly fastened to it, said cross piece adapted to function as a fulcrum line for latching mechanism, anautomatic spring-pressed post latching mechanism contained in the recess with a latch fingeroperating piece fulcrumed on said cross piece by spring pressure and with the finger-operating piece-having a portion presented at about the top of the recess with a downwardly slanting extension passing under and to the other side of said cross piece to provide a post gripping piece at such opposite side of the cross piece, one of such latching mechanisms being assembled in each recess, post holes provided in the said bar and in the post gripping pieces of said mechanisms. l

4. The structure of claim 3 in combination with a thin sheet metal hinge construction having one plate fastened on the side of the solid bar opposite from the side of its recesses and a post hole through such plate in alignment with the post hole in thepost gripping pieces of the latching mechanism, one hinge being provided adjacent each recess.

FRANK STANLEY SCHADE. 

